Electronically transmitted prescriptions not picked up at pharmacies in Sweden

Electronically transmitted prescriptions (ETPs) became common after 1995 in Sweden; however, it is accompanied by a substantial increase in the number of prescriptions not picked up at pharmacies.

To investigate the "no pick-up" rates of ETPs at pharmacies across type of drug and patient age and gender and the reasons patients' report for no pick-up.

A cross-sectional study examining no pick-up of ETPs transmitted during 3 months in 2002, and a mail survey of patients to determine the reasons for failure to pick-up in the county of Sörmland, Sweden, with a population of 261,000, and 21 pharmacies. Chi-square tests were used for calculations of frequency differences among groups.

The overall no pick-up rate of ETPs was 2.5%; men had consistently higher rates than women. The highest rates were seen for adolescents and young adults. Rates were higher than average for antibiotics. About 60% of the answers indicated that prescriptions not picked up were duplicate prescriptions or not needed. "Unintentional nonadherence" was reported by one-fifth of patients.

No pick-up rate in general was low (2.5%), but there were differences across patient age and gender, the rates being higher among adolescents and young adults. Duplicate prescriptions may explain a significant share of the abandoned prescriptions.